


Men and Showers

by ThirdGenerationRockette



Category: The Newsroom (US TV)
Genre: 2.02, AU, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2019-03-17 23:28:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13669521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThirdGenerationRockette/pseuds/ThirdGenerationRockette
Summary: With the conversation about the anniversary coverage over, Mackenzie leaves Will's office trying not to worry about him, and so distracted that she is really only aware that Sloan is waiting for her when she walks into her own office and sees her sitting there, a questioning smirk on her face.





	Men and Showers

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the showers vs closets conversation in 2.02, it goes AU from there...

“What is it about men and showers?” Sloan asks.

“I’ve got an awesome shower,” Will acknowledges, “I love my shower.”

“You _do_ have an awesome shower,” Mackenzie murmurs, oblivious to Sloan’s raised eyebrows and Will’s surprised glance, as she looks up and out of the window. “Anyway, I’m pretty sure we didn’t come in here to talk about showers, or closets.”

With the conversation about the anniversary coverage over, Mackenzie leaves Will's office trying not to worry about him, and so distracted that she is really only aware that Sloan is waiting for her when she walks into her own office and sees her sitting there, a questioning smirk on her face.

Moving a stack of newspapers to look for the notepad she knows is on the desk somewhere, she sits down and looks across at Sloan, eyebrows raised.

“Well?” Sloan asks, her tone somewhat impatient.

“God Sloan, it’s too early for this.” Mackenzie sighs. “If you have something to say, just say it.” “Do you have something to say, Kenzie?” Sloan sits forward, tapping a hand on the desk.

“I don’t know if you noticed but this is my office and you followed _me_ in here, so…” Mackenzie stops and puts her glasses on before reaching for her highlighter.

“Oh my God!” Sloan says, finally losing patience, taking a breath and clearing her throat before continuing. “You do have an awesome shower.”

“Was that meant to be an impression of me, Sloan?” Mackenzie asks, amused. "Because if it was, it still needs some work."

“So not the point, and you know it,” Sloan says, “Oh Billy, you do have an awesome shower, big enough for two, all the better for-“

“Sloan!” Mackenzie stops her, her cheeks colouring slightly pink. “Well then, spill,” Sloan says defiantly.

“There's nothing to spill…no, that's not true, there is, we...” She stops, sighing loudly.

“Just tell me you know what you’re doing.” Sloan lowers her voice and glances back towards the door.

“I haven’t a fucking clue.” Mackenzie laughs, removing her glasses and rubbing a hand wearily across her forehead. "No, that's not true either, I do, I..."

“Look, I'm not pushing you for details if you don't want to talk about it…” Sloan pauses. "Except no, that's exactly what I'm doing. Is this a good idea, Kenz? Whatever it is.”

“Yes, absolutely.” Mackenzie says instantly, pausing before she continues. “I mean, it sort of happened a little out of the blue, but yeah, it's a good thing."

"You know, I do have work to do," Sloan says, showing no signs of leaving. "But I couldn't possibly go back to it with only half of this story, you know that."

"Alright." Mackenzie sighs. "So...you know about the phone hacking, right?" 

"I think so, yeah." Sloan frowns. "Yours was hacked?"

"It was." Nodding, Mackenzie continues. "After the Bin Laden broadcast, when Will was, you know..."

"Wasted." Sloan finishes. "Completely wasted."

"Yeah," Mackenzie says. "Anyway, he left me a voicemail that night, after he got home, and I didn't get it, obviously, because my phone was hacked and it was deleted. I only knew because he mentioned it when he was in the hospital, assuming I _had_ got it but didn't want to...that I didn't feel the same way, even though-"

"Wait." Sloan cuts in. "What did it say?"

"Not the point." Mackenzie pauses. "Well, sort of the point...he wouldn't tell me at first, he kept saying he didn't remember, he was high, after all."

"Please!" Sloan snorts. "He got home after the broadcast, wasted, the first thing he wanted to do was call you, and he expected you to believe he didn't remember why he'd called? Yeah, right."

"I know." Mackenzie shrugs, smiling slightly. "Anyway, for a couple of days I asked, and asked, and followed him around and drove him insane, until-"

“He finally caved, declared his undying love and swept you off your feet?” Sloan asks, sitting back in her seat.

"Pretty much," Mackenzie says, grinning. 

"No fucking way!" Sloan's eyes go wide.

“You _have_ met Will, right?" Mackenzie rolls her eyes and shrugs slightly. "No, not quite. What happened was we were the last two at the bar, and I was telling him off because he really shouldn't have been drinking so soon after getting out of the damn hospital...anyway, he said if we were going to end up on the phone in a couple of hours anyway, I may as well just go home with him. Obviously, I thought it was the scotch talking so I told him not to say anything he wouldn't repeat sober in the morning, and he said I should definitely come home with him because otherwise how was I going to hear him repeat it in the morning... You know, I'm almost certain this conversation made a lot more sense at the time."

"I'm lost." Sloan sighs. "The voicemail?"

"I'm getting to that, hold your horses." Mackenzie pauses and a faint smile crosses her face as she remembers his face as he realised the trap he'd backed himself into. "I pointed out that since we were talking about phone calls, it might be a good time for him to tell me what the hell the voicemail said."

"Good work, Kenzie." Sloan nods.

"Thank you." Mackenzie returns the nod. "So, he took a deep breath and spilled the whole damn message out, word for word."

"And?" Sloan leans forward in her chair.

"I'm not going to tell you what it said, Sloan," Mackenzie says quietly. "Some things are...you know."

"Dammit," Sloan says, pausing as she quirks an eyebrow. "Hang on though, he told you what it said, and what? You went home with him and-"

"Yes." Mackenzie stops her.

“Kenzie.” Sloan frowns. “And that was it, just once?”

“No, it wasn’t like that.” Mackenzie shakes her head. “It wasn’t sex, Sloan. I mean, it was sex, but it wasn’t _just_ sex. Not with Will.”

“So, since then, you’ve been…” Sloan pauses. “You’re back together, you're fuck buddies, you're each other's midnight booty call, what?”

“We’re…” Mackenzie stops, biting her lip. “We’re trying, we’re talking, we’re…” 

“You’re sleeping together.” Sloan finishes her sentence, smirking again.

“Yeah, that’s happening a bit,” Mackenzie says, a hint of a smile on her face. “If we could just do that and not have to worry about anything else, I think we’d be fine.”

“Damn, it’s that good?” Sloan eyes are wide.

“It was always good,” Mackenzie says, “That was never a problem, believe me.”

“Oh, I do believe you,” Sloan says. “Is he…? You know, if he's fucking around, I can absolutely get in there and tell him to get a move on, to pull his head out of his ass. I know he was hurt and angry, and I get that, but if he’s messing with you, Kenzie, if you’re going to end up getting hurt-“

“I’m not, Sloan. He’s not, really, we’re just…” Mackenzie stops, sighing in frustration. “It’s okay, or it will be, I think. We’re taking it slow, we’ve talked about before, he knows how much I regret what happened, he knows I love him, and he says-“

“He says what?” Sloan asks when Mackenzie stops talking.

“He _was_ hurt, of course he was, and angry, really fucking angry, but he says he never stopped loving me,” she says, her bottom lip once again disappearing between her teeth.

“Well, _yeah_ ,” Sloan says, smiling at Mackenzie’s sudden shyness.

“So, yeah.” Mackenzie shrugs. “That’s where we are, and we didn’t want to tell people because yeah, we're getting there but we still have a lot of shit to work through, and we thought that doing it with everyone knowing wouldn’t exactly make things easier.”

“If it helps, I don’t think anyone has a clue,” Sloan says. “Or they didn’t until you passed comment on Will’s shower.”

“Shit,” Mackenzie says. “It just kind of came out, I wasn’t thinking.”

“I'm pretty sure your secret's still safe but I'll sound out Elliot, see if he even noticed.” Sloan tells her. “Don’t worry, he’s so caught up with his wife’s closet taking over his life that I don't think he picked up on it at all.”

“I guess at least it wasn’t in the middle of a rundown meeting,” Mackenzie says, rolling her eyes.

“Yeah, it could always be worse, right?” Sloan stands up, smiling. “I’m happy for you, Kenzie. It’s about time you two idiots stopped wasting time.”

“Thanks.” Mackenzie smiles back as Sloan heads for the door.

“Don’t you ever knock?” Sloan asks as Will strolls into the office. “She could be changing, or… actually, I guess that wouldn’t be anything new for you.”

“You just opened the door, Sloan,” he says. “Seems kind of pointless knocking on an open door, don’t you think?”

“I guess.” She smirks as she walks past him. “But still, manners.”

“I’m sorry about before,” Mackenzie says, as he sits down. “I don’t think anyone other than Sloan heard it, she’s pretty sure Elliot didn’t notice at all but she's going to scope him out. I didn’t think, I didn’t realise I was even about to say anything until I did, I was just thinking aloud, really, and even then, until Sloan-“

“Mackenzie.” he stops her, his tone firm but a smile on his face. “Stop, it doesn’t matter, it's fine.”

“It wasn’t deliberate, I promise, I know we weren’t going to say anything.” She pauses, frowning at him. “God, I’m an idiot.”

“Mac.” He stands up and walks around the desk, perching on it, directly in front of her. “Calm the fuck down, would you?”

“Yeah, sorry,” she says, letting out a long breath and smiling as he reaches forward and takes her hand. “I just don’t want you to think it was my not so subtle way of letting people know.”

“Oh, I don’t know.” He smiles. “I’d say it was pretty subtle. You could have emailed the whole of AWM.”

“Alright, alright.” She swats him on the knee and smiles. “Are you saying…are you okay for people to know?”

“I’m not saying we should hang a banner during the next rundown meeting, but yeah.” He pauses. “We’re both in, right?”

“Yes,” she says, squeezing his hand. “One hundred percent in…I love you, you know that, I just didn’t want to push you if you weren’t ready. It's only been a couple of weeks and-"

“Six years.” He interrupts. “I've been in love with you for six _years_ , I’m more than ready.” 

“Well, alright then.” She smiles softly. “Here we are.”

“Yeah." He runs a thumb gently across the back of her hand and smiles, "Here we are."

*

He follows her out of the conference room after the eleven o'clock meeting wraps up, resting a hand gently on her shoulder, surprising her and grinning when she turns and raises her eyebrows at him.

"Go dump your notes in your office, and come out to lunch with me," he says quietly, watching as she nods, dipping her head coyly.

By the time she's dropped off her notes, picked up her bag and fielded questions from at least three members of staff as she makes her way through the newsroom, he's already waiting for her at the elevators. She sees him leaning against the wall, his gaze running slowly up her legs, a small smile on his face, and it's all she can do not to shove him into the elevator and leap on him, cameras be damned. Instead she stands beside him, her hands folded together to resist temptation, but she breathes a sigh of relief when the elevator doors open and they step into it alone.

The doors have barely closed before Will reaches for her, a hand around her waist, pulling her back against him, his fingers splayed across the flat of her stomach, tickling her skin through her blouse. She lets out a surprised laugh before covering his hand with her own and leaning back against him, closing her eyes and wondering if this would have happened sooner had she just said she didn't care if everyone knew. Was he waiting for her, she wonders, wary of pushing her before she was ready, while she was doing the very same thing? God, they really do need to work on communicating better this time around.

The elevator slides quietly through the final few floors, and he leans down, pushing her hair gently aside, and kisses her neck, softly but thoroughly, pulling back only seconds before the doors open, leaving her to step out ahead of him, snorting when she almost staggers and grabs his hand to pull him with her.

Almost as soon as they are out of the elevator, Mackenzie remembers where they are and how many people are around them, and quickly drops Will’s hand, muttering a sheepish “sorry.” He says nothing but reaches for her, taking her hand back in his and squeezing, a simple gesture but one that's been missing in the couple of weeks they’ve been slowly working things out, trying to keep it just between the two of them; his hand in hers is a gesture that means more to her than she knew it could.

It's the middle of the day, the street outside is busy, full of people rushing to grab lunch, to make their next meeting, to get onto the next part of their day. Nobody gives them a second glance, and Mackenzie relaxes; for the moment at least, Will McAvoy is anonymous, just another guy looking to grab some lunch.

They step into a place on the next block that she hasn't been into since her first week back, when Charlie took them both for lunch and Will would barely look at her across the table, let alone talk to her. It hits her that things are so different now, they're together again, and she can't help smiling at him as they sit down in a quiet corner.

“We should go for drinks tonight, it’s been a while,” she says. “Since we went out with everyone else, I mean.”

“I guess it has,” he says. "Alright."

"Good." She smiles at him. "And I thought it might be nice for you to not be brooding over the anniversary coverage, or-"

"I'm fine, Mac." He stops her. "I wasn't planning on _brooding_."

"I didn't mean it like that." She pauses. "I just meant it would be nice to go and have a quick drink, so it isn't playing on your mind all night, that's all."

"Maybe you could take my mind off it," he says, squeezing her hand across the table.

"I could try," she says, looking up at him through her lashes. "Maybe we could put that awesome shower of yours to good use...again."

“Anniversary coverage? What anniversary coverage?" he smiles at her. "About tonight...do you have a bag with you?”

“Is that your way of asking if I’m going home with you, Billy?” her smile gets wider as he shrugs, slightly embarrassed.

“Maybe,” he says, pausing as the waiter comes to take their drinks order.

“Yes, I have a bag with me,” she answers. "With a couple of changes of clothes, so…” “Okay,” he smiles at her.

“You know, you _could_ just ask. I’m not going to say no.” She reaches over and takes his hand, tangling her fingers in his. “Or if I do, it’s just because I need to go home and do laundry, or pick up fresh clothes, not because I don’t want to be with you. I’m never going to not want to be with you.”

“Alright.” He nods, looking at her hand resting on his. “Is that your way of saying you’d move in if I asked?”

“Is this you asking?” She counters, looking right at him and feeling a slow warmth spread through her when she sees no doubt at all in his eyes.

“Well...” He starts. “I want to be with you, you apparently want to be with me-“ 

“There's no apparently about it, Will,” she cuts in. “I do want to be with you.”

“Okay.” He takes a breath. “I want to be with you, you want to be with me, you have a bag of clothes stashed almost permanently under your desk…what do you think?”

“I think yes, I’d move in with you tomorrow, if you asked,” she says, biting her lip to hold in what she suspects is a huge grin.

“Mackenzie,” he says simply. “I’m asking.” 

“Well, alright then.” She nods.

"Is that a yes?" he asks.

"Yes." She beams at him across the table. "It's a yes."

*

“Do you want me to get up on the bar and make an announcement?” Sloan slips into the seat beside Mackenzie as soon as she notices Will isn’t there. “I’ll do it, Kenzie, if you want me to.”

“Funnily enough, I really don’t,” Mackenzie replies, eyebrows raised. “But thanks, I appreciate the offer.”

“Is it Will who doesn’t want to tell people?” Sloan continues. “’Cos, you know, that’s kind of shitty. He should be announcing to the whole damn world that he has you back, not telling you he wants to keep it quiet. I know the two of you are meant to be, you're soulmates and all that stuff, but after the way he’s treated you, he’s lucky you want him back, I hope he knows that-“

“I do know that,” Will reappears behind Mackenzie, resting his hands on her shoulders as he looks at Sloan. “Look, not that it’s anyone’s damn business, even though you all seem to think it is, but we’re not worried about keeping it quiet anymore. Before you flip out, Sloan, we’re not about to throw a fucking parade to announce it, but we figure that people might start noticing that we’re arriving and leaving together every day, so yeah, not a secret. Okay?”

“Okay,” Sloan says, eyes widening as she turns to Mackenzie. “Wait, _every_ day?"

“Yeah.” Mackenzie nods, smiling as Will’s hands move from her shoulders and slide down her arms.

“Shit, you two move fast.” Sloan shakes her head, smiling.

“I think your definition of fast might be a little different to mine.” Mackenzie laughs.

“Oh, I know, I know, this whole tragic love story has been going on forever, but I mean, shit, when you decide you’re both in, you’re really fucking in,” Sloan grins and climbs down from the stool. “Here loverboy, have your seat back. And if you can bring yourself to let go of your girlfriend for a minute, get the hell over there at some point and spend some time with your staff." 

“You know she offered to stand on the bar and announce it for us?” Mackenzie turns to Will as Sloan walks back to where the rest of the team is sitting.

“I bet she did,” he says, sitting down next to her and moving his stool a little closer. “I’m not sure we really need an official announcement, do you?”

“Nope.” She smiles as he reaches for her, his hand cupping the side of her face. “We could just wait and see how long it takes them to notice we’re not killing each other or for someone to realise we're coming into the office together, or-“

He stops her, sliding his fingers into her hair and bringing his other hand to rest on her knee, slipping his fingers under her skirt, his thumb tracing small circles on the inside of her thigh as he covers her lips with his. She wonders for a split second if he has completely forgotten that half of the newsroom staff is sitting across the room, but then she remembers they’re not hiding anything anymore and thinks hell, this is as good a way to announce it as any. She stops thinking completely when he runs his tongue slowly across her bottom lip, instead leaning forward just enough to rest her palm on his chest, nudging his knee with her own.

“Or yeah, we could just do that in the middle of the bar." Pulling back, she smiles at him.

"I doubt anyone even noticed," he says, picking up his glass. "So, shall we get over there and see what trouble they're getting into?"

Nodding, Mackenzie drains the last of her drink and stands up, following Will over to the table where the rest of the team is sitting.

"Close your mouth, Neal, you're catching flies," she murmurs with a grin as she sits down beside Will on the sofa.

*

Mackenzie is sitting cross-legged, glasses perched on the end of her nose, half reading Newsweek, half watching CNN when her phone rings, and she smiles when she sees Charlie's name on the screen.

"Hi Charlie," she answers.

"Sorry to disturb you, Mac," he says, "I wouldn't usually call this late." 

"It's not so late, I'm awake." She smiles. "Is everything okay?"

"I just wondered if you'd talked to Will tonight?" Charlie asks, sounding worried. "I've been trying to call but can't seem to get hold of him. I know he was going to talk to Sloan and Elliot this morning, and I just wanted to...you know, make sure he's okay."

"He's okay, Charlie," she says.

"You've spoken to him? Tonight?" he asks again. "It's not like him not to answer the phone, Mac, and I'm worried."

"Charlie, can you hold on for just a second?" she asks, putting down the magazine and standing up from the sofa.

"Sure," he says.

Walking into the kitchen, she puts a hand on Will's back and smiles when she sees he's making tea, a normal sized mug for him, and a huge one for her. He knows she likes tea before bed, and that only a giant mug will do, even if it is more about warming her hands than actually drinking it.

"Babe, where's your phone?" she asks, rubbing her hand down his spine.

"Um, I'm not sure, actually," he says, glancing quickly around the kitchen and shrugging. "Why?"

"Charlie's been trying to reach you," she says, handing her phone over to him and reaching around him for her tea.

"Hey, Charlie," Will says. "Everything okay?"

"Will?" Charlie sounds confused and Will smiles. "What the..."

"Mac says you've been trying to get hold of me?" he asks, picking up his mug and following her into the living room, his eyes fixed on her legs, as they so often are.

"I was, but I'm damned if I can remember now what I wanted," Charlie splutters. "What the hell's going on?"

"I talked to Sloan and Elliot about the anniversary coverage, if that's what you were calling about?" Will says, sitting down next to Mackenzie.

"I think it was, but that can wait a fucking minute," Charlie says, pausing briefly. "What's going on here? With you two I mean, what the fuck?"

"Well, right now what's going on is that we're drinking tea and watching CNN," Will says as Mackenzie shakes her head at his teasing.

"McAvoy, you know that's not what I mean!" Charlie almost yells and Mackenzie laughs. "Put Mackenzie back on, dammit! I'll get more sense out of her."

"He's right," Mackenzie says, squeezing his knee and sliding her hand up his thigh. "Much more sense."

"Hang on, Charlie, I'll put you on speaker." Will flips the phone onto speaker and sets it down on the coffee table.

"Alright, you two, put an old man out of his misery, would you?" Charlie says, aiming for gruff but Mackenzie can hear his smile filtering through. "And it's nearly fucking midnight, so don't even try telling me Mac just dropped in to drink tea."

"That wasn't what I was going to tell you at all," Will says, leaning back against the sofa and pulling Mackenzie closer.

"Then what?" Charlie is all but spluttering now, trying to figure out if what he thinks is happening is actually happening.

"What do _you_ think, Charlie?" Mackenzie asks, her hand still on Will's thigh.

"Well, if I didn't know better, I'd say someone had flipped a switch and sent us all spinning back in time a few years," he says, pausing. "But I'm pretty sure there is no such fucking switch so my second guess is that the two of you have finally seen sense and are giving this thing another try."

"You're a wise man, Charlie Skinner," Will says. "Never let it be said otherwise."

"Wait, for real?!" Charlie yells and both Will and Mackenzie are glad he's on speakerphone. "Well, holy fuck, it's about damn time."

"He's not wrong," Mackenzie murmurs, her head leaning against Will's shoulder.

"Well, shit, I couldn't be happier!" Charlie says. "Here I was, calling because I was worried about you sitting all alone and moping, Will, and this whole damn time you've got your girl with you."

"I appreciate the concern anyway, Charlie." Will smiles as Mackenzie moves her hand slowly up his thigh.

"Yeah, you should," Charlie says, and the smile is obvious in his voice. "Alright then, I'm going to leave the two of you alone. I'll see you tomorrow...god damn it!"

"Goodnight, Charlie," Mackenzie says, leaning forward to pick up the phone, hitting the end button and putting it back down on the table.

"I think he's pretty happy," Will says, turning to her. "I got the same impression," she smiles.

"You're happy too, right?" His voice is hopeful as he pulls her towards him, running a hand slowly down her arm.

"Oh, Billy." She takes off her glasses and tucks herself against him, sighing contentedly. "I couldn't be happier."


End file.
